


Cheating Fate

by Of_Lights_and_Shadows



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: AU, Akashi? more like Akashit, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, M/M, Vampire!Kuroko, at least sometimes, because that needs to happen, implied muramido, mentioned momoriko, there are some tiny plotholes beware
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-08 09:34:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5492333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Of_Lights_and_Shadows/pseuds/Of_Lights_and_Shadows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroko is tasked to deal with one prophecised to upset the balance of their world. Fate, however, has other plans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cheating Fate

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for angstprinceaomine for the KnB Secret Santa on tumblr. I'm proud of this piece.

Kuroko Tetsuya remembers few things before his awakening. He doesn't remember the pain, and he's grateful for that, but anything else, it haunts his dreams. He remembers being given the name _Kuroko_ , he remembers being forced to fight, to kill.

 

He remembers.

 

“Tetsu-kun!”

 

“Ah, Momoi-san. Welcome back.”

 

“Mou, how mean of you!” the pink-haired beauty pouts. “You shouldn't be so formal with me, after all, you were the one to turn me~”

 

However, Kuroko doesn't want to talk about how he found her a few decades ago, desperately fighting against all odds to live.

 

“How is Riko-san doing?” he asks, trying to change the subject and, even though it doesn't show in his usual expressionless face, he's relieved that it actually worked.

 

“She's doing fine!” she chirps. “She's being so nice to me, I can't help fall in love with her more and more!”

 

“I'm happy for you.”

 

“Also! She said she wants to meet with you!”

 

“With me? Are you sure?”

 

“Yup! She also summoned the Council, so don't you dare miss it! Riko-tan will be angry at you!”

 

Well, that spoke trouble. The last time he was summoned by the Council (which was nothing more than a group consisting of mythical creatures and gifted humans) was when he had turned Momoi into a vampire.

 

And now...? What did the Council wanted from him?

 

 

“Kuroko Tetsuya.” The voice of the current Head of Council, speaks. “You have been summoned here on the request of Oracle Aida Riko.”

 

“Thank you, Midorima-kun.” the Oracle speaks, walking down from her pedestal and, even though she's blindfolded, she gracefully stands in front of him.

 

“The Fates weave their threads, tangling the physical and the ethereal alike in them, finding joy in their twisted schemes.” Kuroko can tell that she tries to rein in her emotions, for what she had seen, what she probably still sees is truly terrifying.

 

She takes a deep breath. “The Gods of Fortune are showering their chosen one with blessings. A child blessed by the Gods of the Tiger, living and gone, as well. That child shall be born on the days of the Underworld, and the Lords and Ladies of that dreaded realm will desire his company. Should he be charmed by their misleading promises and poisonous words, nothing will stand still in his way.

 

 

That child is coloured by the Sun itself, but one must be careful not to get too close, for the flames can both bless and destroy, and what he truly is, it's nothing more than flames.”

 

Midorima Shintarou stands while the Oracle retreats, his forest green hair proof that he's a powerful nymph, addresses his words to Kuroko. “The Council has decided and bestows you with this mission, Kuroko Tetsuya: Find that child, and kill it, before it's born, if possible.”

 

In that sense, Midorima isn't like the legends depict his kind. He's not as gentle one might assume, and one might think of him as cruel, even though he's far from that. To him, who crossed many countries in hopes to escape death, the lives and happiness of the many outweigh those of a single one.

 

“I can't kill an unborn child!” he protests, screaming.

 

“Kuro-chin, you have killed many people before.” a purple-furred baku going by the name Murasakibara Atsushi, intervenes. “What makes it so different?”

 

Kuroko falls silent because in the end, the Council has already decided that this child must be killed and there's nothing he says that can make them change their minds. So he bows, accepts his mission and leaves.

 

Of course he understands why this happens. Everyone wants to cherish that balance that was so hard for them to achieve. It's something akin to happiness; running away from the fear of disappearing or killed, they crafted a new life for themselves. He understands that well, after all, he was forced, against his will into this. However, he's not willing to give up, enjoy everything that life still has to offer him.

 

The thought of killing a child before it even gazes the skies and wonder about the mysteries they hide is too much for him to discover. He tries to convince himself that he shouldn't be so conscious of it. He had killed countless times before, he didn't care about them, so why should he care now?

 

 

-//-

 

He first meets Shiori, a kind woman who sees him for exactly what he is. Yet, she's welcoming and kind, and Kuroko is glad to have finally someone to call a friend.

 

It's strange how they both study at the same university. She has a passion for art and inspires to become a great artist, while he wanted to become a kindergarten teacher (more like a good pretext to try and find the rumoured Prophesied). She's a woman with great insight, curious but not prejudiced, since the questions she has for him are of genuine curiosity about the world that's hidden from her view.

 

“You know, Kuroko, maybe you could work for me when we graduate?” she suggested one day, completely out of the blue.

 

She must have figured out his unspoken confusion, because she continued talking before he was given the chance to ask. “I'm getting married after I graduate. I'm not too excited about it, of course. It's been arranged though, and I can't change it.”

 

“Do you at least know the person?” Kuroko asks, to which Shiori sighs.

 

“You know him too, Kuroko. It's Masaomi.”

 

“As in, _Akashi_? _That_ Masaomi?” and this is one of the very rare occasions that his surprise is evident on his voice. He only receives a nod for a reply.

 

Akashi Masaomi was an ambitious youth, barely out of university and thrown into the corporate world, doing surprisingly fine for someone his age. _Unsurprisingly_ well for an Akashi, though.

 

“How your marriage involves me, then?” he wonders.

 

“They're expecting us to have a child. You understand that we're too young, right? I don't want to be a mother just for the sake of it, I want to be a good mother. You can help me, right?”

 

“I'll be happy to.”

 

Shiori gives him a wide, adoring smile, and hugs him. “Thank you so much, Kuroko! I'll be eternally in your debt!” she exclaims and runs away, skipping.

 

As she waves at him, Kuroko Tetsuya wonders what possessed him that moment to agree.

 

 

-//-

 

Shiori faces many hardships in the Akashi household. The nine months of her pregnancy are simply excruciating, and Kuroko fears for the worst every time he sees Shiori being even a little bit tired or weak.

 

One December night, just a breath away from Christmas, she goes into labour. There's not enough time to get her into the hospital, instead, it's the doctors that come to them.

 

It's a boy. A tiny little boy, which has him marveling at the miracle that is childbirth. He's born with bright red hair and, when he opens his eyes, he reveals a pair of equally bright red eyes.

 

Shiori smiles at him.

 

“You're such a strong boy. I think the name Seijuro really suits you.”

 

She passes out from exhaustion a moment later.

 

The boy's father promptly exists the room, following his own father, leaving only Kuroko for the doctor to talk to.

 

“Both mother and child need the utmost care.” he advises, eyeing him carefully. “Are you his caretaker-to-be?” he finally asks. Kuroko simply nods, to which the doctor places the newborn child in his arms. “Take good care of him.” are his final words, as he departs from the room, leaving a resting Shiori, and Kuroko holding her son.

 

The boy simply stares at him, not crying, not trying to escape. It's just there, slowly breathing in and out, as though trying to dismiss the, surely embarrassing, moment where he cried in surprise and pain from the air entering his lungs for the first time. They remain like that for a few moments, when finally, the child cracks what seems to be a ghost of a smile, pure and innocent, just as a child's whole expression should be.

 

It's that moment that Kuroko decides. It's a foreign emotion, one he cannot describe. It makes him want to be a part of the child's life, always be there for him, be what the boy needs as he grows up. A playmate, a best friend, a teacher, a father, he's willing to be anything to him. Even, gods living and gone forbid, a lover, for the sole reason of not having to fear about unwillingly dragging him to the same path he walks. He knows that from Satsuki, for she's been asking for a while now to be allowed to turn her beloved Riko into a vampire, to which he always finds a way to avoid the subject.

 

The only thing that doesn't cross his mind at all is the Oracle's descriptions about what she saw in others.

 

Akashi Seijuro's eyes are the same colour as Kuroko's aura.

 

-//-

 

Shiori continues to be on her son's side for seven more years, cherishing and showering with love the way only a mother knows how. Seijuro finds his solace and sense of normality to his mother and Kuroko, someone he can trust.

 

Seijuro stands alone in the funeral, on his father's side, holding his tears. Not only he lost his mother, but the one that was like a brother to him, disappeared. It was a heavy burden for such a young child to handle, not to mention acting impassive to it, as instructed. And so he managed. The people around them muttered about how improper such behaviour was. Then again, they were going to say the same if he showed those feelings. The world was cruel, and treated kindness as weakness.

 

He witnesses all, and wants nothing more than to reach out and console the boy, but he can't. He's been forbidden of doing so, and he knows well that Masaomi's threats aren't mere bluffs.

 

The only thing that Kuroko can do is to make a promise to Shiori's spirit. Promise her that he'll find a way back to Seijuro's life.

 

 

-//-

 

 

Teiko Middle is exactly what one might have expected of a prestigious school. It doesn't surprise him at all that Seijuro is joining. Even if he wasn't as bright and talented as he is, his father's wealth would have allowed him a place here.

 

Because the world is ever so kind only to those who have power, and are so easy to bear their teeth at them when they lose what the rest feared.

 

 

“Announcing the names of those who will join the first string: Murasakibara Atsushi, Aomine Daiki, Midorima Shintarou, Akashi Seijuro.”

 

 

He's not surprised to hear that the redhead made it, but what was the nymph doing here? Kuroko's mind was racing; had it something to do with Seijuro?

 

 

The green haired spirit walks closer, an obvious scowl in his face. “Kuroko. You were given a mission. What are you doing here?” he demands to receive answers.

 

“I could ask the same about you, Midorima-kun.” Kuroko is quick to reply.

 

“I'm keeping an eye on you. Why aren't you doing as you were asked?”

 

“I need to, no, I want to keep a promise to a friend.” are his honest words. “She asked me to look after her son. I'm going to do just that, even if I have to do it from afar.”

 

“I'm willing to help if that means you'll be done sooner with your mission. Who do you need to know about?”

 

Kuroko doesn't hesitate, because he knows how temperamental Midorima can be.

 

“Akashi Seijuro-kun.”

 

Midorima groans, but agrees. “Focus on finding that one, Kuroko. It's important.”

 

 

-//-

 

 

Kuroko finds himself practicing basketball with profound vigour instead of completing his mission. He wants to be closer to the young Akashi, assist him as he was promised to.

 

His accidental meeting with Aomine gives him courage to try harder and, before he knows it, he offers to introduce Kuroko (who has bestowed him with the nickname 'Tetsu') to introduce him to his teammates.

 

Kuroko masterfully handles his excitement with the expressionless facade he has mastered through the centuries. From the few sentences they exchange, he can tell that he's changed. He's turned from the innocent, soft spoken boy, into a more cryptic version of his younger self, something between a kind child and a cruel adult.

 

He chooses to call him Akashi-kun this time, because he's not the same as he remembered, and he doubts Seijuro can recall any of the moments they shared in the past.

 

A few months later, and by following those hints Akashi gave him, he joins the first string a few months later.

 

He can finally fulfill his promise.

 

 

-//-

 

He can't help but state at those eyes, those cold, indifferent eyes. He can't believe the words he's hearing.

 

This isn't the person he knew all these years.

 

“What are you talking about...? No, _who are you?_ ”

 

The redhead simply grins, and it's such an eerie gesture, him placing his left palm over his chest.

 

“I'm Akashi Seijuro, of course.. _Tetsuya._ ”

 

That moment, fear settles on Kuroko's heart, an all-consuming one. This fear isn't towards the person standing in front of him, even though he mockingly stares at him. It's a fear that comes from a realization, a cold slap in his face from the hands of bitter reality. It's a possibility that never dawned on him, clouded by his adoration towards the little child (back when he was a child, anyways) and his promise to Shiori, a promise that he could never even dream of breaking. It's inevitable to not think about it now though.

 

_**The one he was supposed to kill was Akashi Seijuro.** _

 

The signs are there for the world to see, but he never paid attention to any of them. His birthday, that was less than a week away from Christmas, and so close to the Winter solstice. The way he easily mastered any task or skill he was assigned, as if he was guided constantly by perfectly otherworldly, divine hands. Blessed by all gods he was indeed, and now he witnessed the envy of the Underworld taking shape and form in that gentle face.

 

He should kill him that very moment. Throw him an Ignite Pass to his heart with all his vampiric strength, or sink his fangs into his neck and drain him of his blood. There countless possibilities towards that goal, so he told himself that his retreat was to plan ahead, even though that moment was perfect for the deed to be done.

 

In reality, what he wanted was to find a way to save him. He wanted to save what was left from a person that saw him simply as Kuroko Tetsuya, even though he wasn't human anymore, but was treated like one. Everyone part of the Council and those answering their calls, they were like him, or much like him. They had lost their mortality or never had it. A human friend, though, was different. It was important. It didn't matter if the whole of the Other Side turned against him.

 

And so, Kuroko decided to fight against the god that took over his friend. For the sake of his promise.

 

 _And because you love him._ His traitorous heart whispers to him, but he ignores it.

 

 

-//-

 

“Let's play again, Kuroko.”

 

“Yes, let's.”

 

The next day, he returns to the Council, announcing the death of the Cursed Child.

 

 

-//-

 

Kuroko receives a call from Akashi a few days later, saying it's something important. He can't help but be curious. For that reason, he agrees to their meeting to happen as soon possible.

 

And so, they meet later that same day. Kuroko is still his school uniform, while Akashi was dressed casually but still in style.

 

“Akashi-kun, hello.” he greets quietly. “What is it that you wanted to talk about?”

 

Akashi doesn't bite his words, not beating around the bush. “Be my boyfriend, Kuroko.” and event though he's blunt with his words of choice, Kuroko can detect the emotions behind them.

 

That's why he gives the redhead a ghost of a smile along with his reply.

 

“I'll be happy to, Akashi-kun.”

 

“Please call me Seijuro.”

 

“Only if you call me Tetsuya.”

 

They both agree and walk away talking, while holding hands.

 

 

-//-

 

 

Their Alcyone days end three years later.

 

“We should end this farce here, Kuroko.” Akashi tells him on their anniversary.

 

“What do you mean by that?”

 

There's a wide, devilish grin on Akashi's face. “Isn't it clear? We had a good time while we were together, but this can't go on. Shouldn't we take our own ways apart now? Get married, have a family?”

 

“Is that really what you want?” Kuroko asks.

 

“Does it really matter?” he shrugs, attempting to walk away from the house.

 

“Wait! Where are you going? This is your house! If anything, I should be going!” he protests.

 

“This is _your_ house.” Akashi reveals. “It's in your name, after all.”

 

“Akashi-kun... Did I do something wrong?”

 

“It doesn't matter.” he replies. “I just don't want to see you ever again, and that's final.” are his last words, before he walks away.

 

Even so, Kuroko isn't willing to not keep an eye on Akashi. He wants to treasure him and protect him, even though he ignores it. Not only because his promise to his mother, who he still holds dear in his mind. He's not going to lie to himself this time.

 

He loves Akashi Seijuro. So much, that he's willing to throw away his own immortal existence for his sake. It's not the first time he's looking after the redhead without him knowing. He's sure it'll go well this time, as it did before.

 

 

Two weeks later, he receives a wedding invitation. The folder is from heavy, crème coloured, expensive paper. The sender could only be one person and, checking the name, his suspicions are confirmed.

 

The sender was Akashi, who was inviting not only him, but their former teammates as well. His soon to be wife was some spoiled rich young woman and, if anyone wanted his opinion, a poor choice and it reminded him of Seijuro's father. He had his wife picked for him, didn't he? It made him wonder, was that what happened to his beloved? Forced into a marriage he didn't want?

 

Akashi's marriage ceremony is a grand one, as any would have expected. People who excel in their fields, from actors to politicians, are present, but no one apart their former teammates seem to be there out of their own volition rather than an unseen obligation. All he can see is acting from all sides. No one is true to themselves, and most of all, Akashi. He notices how the one he held so dear in his heart sends glances towards his father, and the man looks more like a beast ready to strangle his enemy (his own son) rather than a human being.

 

Kuroko quickly wishes the best to both the newlyweds and walks away. The atmosphere suffocates him.

 

He can continue watching over him the next day.

 

 

-//-

 

The next day, Akashi boards a plane flying towards somewhere in Europe. He returns two days later, visibly tired, but a satisfactory grin is plastered on his face. He stays for a few days and then departs again. It repeats for months, and it doesn't stop even after he learns of his wife's pregnancy.

 

He's not there when his son is born. The boy has inherited his mother's ebony hair and his father's crimson eyes. He's different from Seijuro when he was born. This one cries and wails when anyone apart his mother comes close. Like his father, this boy grows up without one. However, he's still lucky to have his mother at his side.

 

Seijuro barely had that right.

 

Seijuro, who becomes more and more like a well-programmed machine than a human being. He slowly casts away any emotion he might have. He turns the people he's surrounded by into pawns, each one with their own use, disposable when he has no other use of them.

 

He's become the exact kind of person Kuroko despises the most. He tries to distance himself from him, stop looking after him, stop caring, but he can't. It's as if an invisible thread binds them both, bending and stretching, but never breaking.

 

Kuroko never believed in fate, but this is as similar to the red string that connects people.

 

He dismisses that notion as soon as he came up with it.

 

 

-//-

 

The gunshot alarms him, so he runs to that direction, worry filling his every fiber. He turned his gaze away for a moment, and Akashi was gone from his sight. He might as well be the one who got shot; after all, he made so many enemies.

 

And there he was, in a forsaken, dark alley, lying down.

 

He doesn't think, he can't anymore. He simply runs to his direction, screaming his name.

 

“Ah, Tetsuya.” he smiles when he listens to his voice. “How kind of you to finally stand in front of me once more. I apologise for the state you find me.” he laughs.

 

“Don't joke, Seijuro! You were shot!”

 

“I know, I know, I'm not good at jokes. But aren't you the same? Always so blunt, so tenacious. I think that's what I liked best about you.”

 

“Let me get you to the hospital, at least! Then I can disappear from your life again!” Kuroko insists, but Akashi denies him with a faint shake of his head.

 

“I'm supposed to die here, tonight. Let's not tempt face, shall we?”

 

Watching his beloved breathing slower and slower, he's tempted to turn him. Akashi will probably hate him, but he think it's better than watch him die.

 

“Don't do it.” the redhead commands him. “I'll find my way back to you. Just wait for me.”

 

“Don't you care about your family in the little bit?”

 

Akashi chuckles. “Of course I do. My son won't have to grow up like I did, like my father, or his father before him. I made sure for that.”

 

“You mean that...?”

 

“Of course. I killed my father. It was, how do you call it? Ah, yes. Liberating.”

 

Kuroko doesn't know what to feel or how to reply to that.

 

“I know what I'm doing, Tetsuya. Trust me. I'm absolute.” are his last words.

 

 

 

-//-

 

 

It's been centuries since Kuroko last saw Akashi. Exactly three. Three centuries since the day of his death, and seventy three years since he left Japan.

 

He felt betrayed. Akashi had betrayed him, broke his dying promise. Kuroko blamed himself for believing in an empty promise.

 

But what else one could do other than wish to see their beloved again? Even if it was for one last time, to gaze at each other, to touch, to whisper words of devotion to one another.

 

“Anything. I'd give up anything to see you once again, Seijuro-kun.” he sighs. “One last time.”

 

“Anything?” he hears a voice reply, and surely, his illusion appears in front of him. The illusion doesn't move, instead waits for him to get closer, which is what he does.

 

“I know you're not real.” Kuroko states. “I know. But let me love you, as I loved him.”

 

“I'm hurt.” the illusion speaks for the first time in those countless years. “Don't you love me anymore, Tetsuya?”

 

“I love Seijuro-kun.” Kuroko replies with resolve. “You're not him, even though you look like him.”

 

“Perhaps so.” is the reply he receives, as the illusion levitates towards him. “However, no one stays the same when three hundred years have gone past. You've changed as well, Tetsuya.”

 

He sees the illusion clearly now that it stands right before him. The looks almost exactly like the person he knew. His appearance had changed though. His eyes are even sharper and more beastly looking than before. His skin gives off the illusion of glowing under the moonlight, and his teeth shine like well-shaped diamonds. What was more important, a pair of wings, red as his hair and tainted by black blood, adorned his back.

 

“I'll prove it to you, Kuroko Tetsuya, that I am Akashi Seijuro, as I claim. I was the one to kill my father, Akashi Masaomi. You were assigned as my caretaker by my mother Shiori. As to what you haven't changed since that day... You're a vampire, and you had offered me your gift of immortality three centuries ago, the night of my death.”

 

Kuroko stares, dumbfounded. “It's really you.” he mutters, over and over. “But how?”

 

Akashi laughs. “I planned ahead, Tetsuya. You think I didn't know?”

 

“Since when?” he demands to know.

 

“Since the time we were in Teikou. During our last year. I started putting my plan forward the day after we broke up. I have to admit, it turned out better than I anticipated.”

 

Kuroko waits for him to continue his explanation. “I was going to die eventually. We both knew that. So I gambled in the idea of reincarnation. If I managed to cause enough harm, surely I could be reincarnated into a demon, am I wrong?”

 

“You could have become a worm after dying.”

 

“Perhaps.” the redhead agrees. “I managed to cause too much harm to others though. However, I don't regret what I did. It gets me to live much longer with you as I would in my human life.” and that moment, Kuroko thanks his lucky stars that blood doesn't run in his veins anymore, or else his cheeks might have obtained the same colour as his lover's hair.

 

“There's one thing I don't understand though. I was given a task.”

 

“Oh? And what was that, Tetsuya?”

 

“I was assigned to kill you ass soon as I found you. You were foretold to disrupt the balance of the world.”

 

“Perhaps you should think about it the other way.” he suggests. “What if what happened was because you were the one assigned to kill me? If you weren't a part of my life, perhaps I wouldn't have attempted what I did. I'd live my life as any other human, and probably be reincarnated as one in my next life. It's plausible, is it not?”

 

Kuroko can't help but agree with a nod. Seijuro is, as he had claimed so many times in the past, absolute in his words, even more so than before.

 

“There's one thing I'd like to know though.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“I want to know more about your friends. Those who aren't human.” he reveals.

 

Kuroko smiles.

 

“I'll be glad to.”


End file.
